My 83-year-old Mom was brought to the NCCU floor after a stroke. Mom is also currently being treated as a cancer patient at another nearby hospital. On Monday, a number of specialists came, observed Mom, and gave us completely different opinions of the possible outcomes and results of procedures that were planned, or not planned. They individually wanted my and my brother's thoughts on these procedures but seemed to dismiss wanting to look at the "big picture". We left the hospital that evening confused about what our Mom's prognosis even was.

On Tuesday morning, we returned to her room and spoke to her nurse for the day, Cici. Cici really listened to us, understood our concerns, and reassured us that she would do everything in her power to make sure we got answers to them. And she did. She helped us to understand the process, all of the people we needed to talk to, and made sure that they stopped in to see us. We learned more from her in an hour than we had in the previous 36! She made us feel like my Mom's best interests were at heart in the hospital. And she followed up throughout the day with things like "##### will be in to see you soon," "do you feel good and agree with what you are hearing?" and "do you have any other questions that I can help you with?" And she was compassionate with us. I understand that specialists have one interest in treating a tumor or other condition, but often there are other factors, such as age, previous illnesses, and quality of overall life, that I feel need to be considered. Cici understood. She was supportive. And she did what she said she would do. Sometimes the best patient care is not directly to a patient. Thanks, Cici!